Reflections and comments on all aspects of Catholic and Human Life.
"THE FIRST LAW OF HISTORY IS NOT TO DARE UTTER FLASEHOOD; THE SECOND, NOT TO FEAR TO SPEAK THE TRUTH." attributed to Pope Leo XIII

Saturday, July 31, 2010

PRICELESS SECRET, GREATEST TREASURE

The heat in this northern city has been unusually extreme of late and so I have stayed inside, away from the broiling sun and hordes of mosquitoes, using the time to clear off my desk of clutter – actually some of the clutter has turned out to be rather surprisingly good notes from things I have read.

Among those notes are some from St. Louis de Montfort and St. John Vianney, though I failed to include from exactly where in their writings!

However as we are soon to celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption and the feasts of St. John Vianney and St. Maxmillian Kolbe, two of my priestly heroes, I thought why not make use of the discovered notes and put them here, both to encourage trust in Our Blessed Mother and prayer for priests.

St. Louis stresses that the Holy Rosary is “a priceless treasure which is inspired by God.”

Most Catholics are aware of the urgent plea from Our Lady at Fatima for prayer, in particular the Rosary, and penance, for the conversion of souls to Jesus, and how after seventy years of such prayer, among other events, the stranglehold of communism on much of Europe, and Russia herself, was ended.

There are still countries in such bondage; still the immense dark cloud of the culture of death hovers over, hobbling, much of the human family.

Speaking directly to priests and our duty for the care of souls, the challenges faced especially by parish priests St. Louis, who customarily referred to the treasure and efficacy of the Rosary as a ‘secret’, which perhaps because of its little use in his day it was, notes: “If...a priests really understands this secret he will say the Rosary every day and will encourage others to say it.”

When I was a boy it was customary in parishes, particularly before daily Mass, for the people to pray the Rosary together, and certainly the evening gathering of the family to pray the Rosary together was a mainstay of the prayer life of most Catholic families.

The other particular notes I found in the clutter were taken from words of St. John Vianney: “ A good pastor, a pastor according to the heart of God, this is the greatest treasure that the good God can give a parish, and one of the most precious gifts of Divine Mercy….The priesthood is the love of the Heart of Jesus….Without the Sacrament of Holy Orders, we would not have the Lord. Who put Him there in that tabernacle? The priest. Who welcomes your soul at the beginning of your life? The priest. Who feeds your soul and gives it strength for its journey? The priest. Who will prepare it to appear before God, bathing it one last time in the Blood of Jesus Christ? The priest, always the priest….The priest is not a priest for himself, he is a priest for you.”

What greater way to pray for priests, to give thanks for priests, and priests for each other, than praying the Holy Rosary!